SME Law

Salaries on ice but chauffeur not sliced

Talk of pay freezes has become all too familiar at large Australian law firms, as last week Corrs Chambers Westgarth joined the likes of Freehills, Allens and Mallesons in capping off salaries…

June 18, 2009 • By Lawyers Weekly

Talk of pay freezes has become all too familiar at large Australian law firms, as last week Corrs Chambers Westgarth joined the likes of Freehills, Allens and Mallesons in capping off salaries for the year.

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The news is similar in the UK and, for the most part, being accepted by out-of-pocket lawyers. But at one London firm, DWF, talk of a pay freeze appears to have caused a little more upset than usual, with payrises axed alongside firm-wide bonuses even though the last 12 months has seen record profits.

Even more difficult to swallow, reports rollonfriday.com, is the fact that the managing partner of the firm will be keeping his chauffeur.

The story reported online last week caused such upset at the firm that it blocked access to the site across its IT network. Consequently, DWF lawyers complained to rollonfriday.com, noting an error message reporting access blocked due to "inappropriate or unlawful material".

Staff at the firm made enough noise that the IT department backed off and re-opened access to the offensive story - and the guilty chauffeur.

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